Posts in "White House Campaigning"

July 27, 2012

But that milestone has become something of a misnomer in an era when two states conduct elections strictly through the mail, voters increasingly vote absentee and many states allow early in-person voting that continues to grow in popularity.

As a country, we’ll collectively be glued to our television screens (or mobile devices) on the evening of Election Day to find out who won the White House and the battle for Congress. But to a significant degree, the outcome could be decided long before then, particularly in a few of the states that really matter.

July 25, 2012

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley opened a federal political action committee this week, further fueling chatter that the second-term Democrat is eyeing future office.

O Say Can You See PAC will help federal candidates and two state ballot initiatives in the coming months, longtime O’Malley aide Rick Abbruzzese confirmed to Roll Call today.

“It’s a mechanism to help support these ballot initiatives and contribute to the national conversation,” Abbruzzese said.

Democrats often mention O’Malley as a potential candidate for president in 2016. The governor has upped his national presence in recent years, including taking the reins of the Democratic Governors Association. Full story

July 19, 2012

Barring any unforeseen schedule changes or major Romney campaign decisions, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will head to Manchester for the state GOP Ice Cream Social on Aug. 11.

It is an interesting selection of a headliner. Pawlenty is at the center of speculation to be presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president. Only about two weeks ago, fellow VP contender Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) also traveled to New Hampshire for a state party event.

By all accounts, New Hampshire will be a central battleground in the presidential race in the fall.

According to the state GOP Facebook invite, tickets for the Pawlenty event will cost $20.12.

June 21, 2012

National Republicans made two additions Wednesday to the party’s 2012 efforts.

Veteran GOP spokesman Kyle Downey was named press secretary for the 2012 Republican National Convention, and the Republican National Committee hired Drew Maloney to serve as external affairs adviser for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Full story

June 15, 2012

Powerhouse Republican fundraiser Haley Barbour today described the current campaign finance laws as a “bad system.”

The former Mississippi governor who now raises money for the American Crossroads super PAC and in the 1990s built the Republican National Committee into a fundraising juggernaut conceded that the system could operate better, and he discussed potential improvements. One of Barbour’s solutions: outlaw campaign contributions from corporations and labor unions.

“The system ought to allow unlimited giving by any person and then let the labor unions and corporations not give,” he told reporters during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. “The two organizations that you are limited in giving money to are the campaign itself and the candidates’ party. Those ought to be the two organizations that we encourage you to give money to.”

May 7, 2012

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign strategist David Axelrod warned today that the president’s campaign would respond aggressively to the “Karl and Koch brothers’ contract killers in super PAC-land” and treat their ads as if they came from Mitt Romney himself.

Axelrod was referring to GOP strategist Karl Rove’s group American Crossroads and the billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, who have bankrolled several conservative political action committees. Both are expected to play a large role in attacking Obama and other Democratic candidates this year.

On a conference call with reporters during which the campaign detailed a $25 million positive ad buy in swing states during the next month, Axelrod said Romney can’t sell his policy prescriptions, which the strategist ripped as backward-looking and as a doubling down on tax cuts for the wealthy.

“He’s basically reduced to running a negative campaign, just as he was in the primaries,” Axelrod said. “We have a different approach.”

May 5, 2012

President Barack Obama today cast himself once again as the candidate of hope and change as he kicked off his re-election campaign by trying to recapture the magic of his run four years ago.

“You tell them, it’s still about hope. It’s still about change. …We can make a difference in the life of this country,” Obama exclaimed toward the end of an impassioned, 40-minute speech in Columbus, Ohio. Full story

May 2, 2012

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, share a moment before announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign in Arlington, Va., on Wednesday. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

The winner of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary has gone on to win his party’s nomination in every election since 1980 — until now.

Just less than a year after entering the race, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) ended his presidential campaign today, a week after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney claimed the mantle of the GOP’s presumptive nominee. Full story

April 26, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) said no one should ever turn down an offer for the vice presidential nomination, which is why he hopes no one ever asks him to join the national ticket.

“The one thing I don’t think you should say is, if asked to serve the country, ‘No’. I don’t think anybody should say that,” Daniels said in a wide-ranging interview with Roll Call. “But other than that, [I] don’t want to, don’t intend to, hope not to, don’t expect to, and I think there are better choices.”

Days after Mitt Romney became the GOP’s presumptive nominee for president, several of the most-mentioned vice presidential contenders told media outlets that they’re not interested in the gig — statements widely interpreted by insiders as political deflection. Daniels came close to shutting the door himself last weekend, telling “Fox News Sunday” that, if asked to be Romney’s running mate, he’d urge the White House hopeful to reconsider.

But on Wednesday afternoon, during an interview with Roll Call in his expansive office at the state Capitol, Daniels explained his own ambitions in more detail.

April 25, 2012

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) is preparing to end his now-longshot bid for the presidency, according to multiple reports.

Senior campaign aides told Fox News that Gingrich will formally exit the race for the Republican nomination on Tuesday. Gingrich indicated he was on his way out while speaking with reporters in Cramerton, N.C., this morning, just hours after former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney swept five primaries and was anointed the “presumptive nominee” by the Republican National Committee. Full story

April 24, 2012

Mitt Romney effectively accepted the Republican nomination for president this evening, as he cruised to victory in five primaries and padded his delegate lead over the two other GOP candidates left in the race.

During a speech delivered in Manchester, N.H., where the former Massachusetts governor launched his 2012 campaign nearly one year ago, Romney focused his fire on President Barack Obama with contrasting rhetoric clearly intended to introduce himself to a general election audience and set the tone for the November contest.

The address appeared to serve as an unveiling for a number of themes likely to re-emerge throughout the campaign against Obama, and Romney attempted to turn the president’s “fairness” message against him, arguing that the commander in chief’s dismal record has led to a condition of “unfairness” for millions of Americans.

Among the more memorable lines from Romney’s speech: “A better America begins tonight” and “It’s still about the economy, and we’re not stupid.”

April 16, 2012

The Obama campaign announced today in a Web video that its collective March fundraising total was “over $53 million.”

The video featured various campaign supporters announcing their small donations to the campaign, followed by a message from campaign manager Jim Messina. The figures include fundraising from the Democratic National Committee.

April 12, 2012

Mitt Romney will likely pick up two endorsements from national abortion-rights opponent groups today, two days after former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) ended his presidential bid.

The Susan B. Anthony List, which previously endorsed Santorum and had been campaigning for him, announced in a statement this morning that it is backing the former Massachusetts governor. National Right to Life is announcing its presidential endorsement at a press conference this morning at the National Press Club, and it is presumed the group will back Romney. Full story

“We made the decision to get in this race at our kitchen table, against all the odds,” Santorum said. “And we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting.”

The decision for Santorum comes one week after losing the Wisconsin primary and two weeks before the primary in his home state of Pennsylvania.

Santorum’s exit essentially clears the way for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to become the GOP nominee. Two other candidates are still technically in the race, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), but they have won a total of two states. Romney had 661 delegates following his wins on April 3, according to the Associated Press.

“Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race that you will ever see for president,” Santorum said. “Against all odds, we won 11 states. Millions of voters, millions of votes. We won more counties than all the other people in this race combined.”

Continuing his string of wins in moderate Northeastern states, the former Massachusetts governor did well enough in exit polls that the Associated Press called the race less than 15 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m.

Updated 8:46 p.m.

Romney was projected to win a primary in Washington, D.C., by multiple news outlets before 9 p.m., when polls close in Wisconsin.

Updated 9: 31 p.m.

News networks also called Wisconsin for Romney around 9:30 p.m., essentially ending the Republican primary season.

In a defiant speech, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum vowed to stay in the race.